Adolescence
by KRenee
Summary: Itachi and Sasuke are continuing their obscure lives as peacefully as one does. Juritsu is fighting an impossible battle against a foe greater than she knows. Kaizuki is running from a past that won't dare let her leave its shadow. Somehow, they come together to form one big, hellish world. This too, shall pass... right? Rated T for profanity and violence.


**A/N**

**BEFORE you read this story, you should probably be aware of the fact that A) it's a plot-raping AU and B) Naruto isn't even in it. This story is a roleplay between me and my sister, and we've been writing it for a while. There are cameos of characters from pretty much every series we've ever seen - Fruits Basket, Happy Cafe, Bleach, and Hetalia are just a few examples. But the main characters from any of those series are just about the least important. **

**Also note the HEAVILY REVAMPED characterizations of some of the characters - their personalities were shifted around a bit to fit with the pasts we constructed for them as well as the universe. For example; Madara is a good guy (in some fashion or another). Senju Hashirama is a bad guy. Sasuke has PTSD and is highly prone to panic attacks due to his history with Madara and his goons. Hidan is a giant asshole. Kisame is fucking awesome. Sasori has daddy issues (DON'T. ASK.) Itachi is over-protective and studying genetics and/or pathology, but everyone calls him a doctor either way.**

**Its things like that. They've made a big difference to the characters, but it's also made the story flow really nicely. Before you decide that you hate this story, give it a look-see. You might find it interesting.**

**This story is written in ARCS. That means that these chapters are going to be REALLY FUCKING LONG. If you don't have at LEAST 45 minutes to an hour before your next appointment, bedtime, class, spiritual summoning, alien abduction or ****_whatever_****, DON'T START READING. Some of these arcs are a good 50-75 pages long. Those ones will probably be separated into shorter chapters, but they'll still be like, 10 pages long. Fair warning.**

**MAIN CHARACTERS:**

**Son Juritsu**** is a seasoned martial artist and the daughter of the deceased Son Goku. Her family was slaughtered by a man named Kensei with a power hungry streak that drove him to obsessing upon recruiting Juritsu into his organization - Yami. **

**Tsubaki Kaizuki**** is a seasoned martial artist who's family was slaughter by the international assassin 'Io.' Her goal is, at the very least, to make Io leave her alone.**

**Uchiha Itachi**** and ****Uchiha Sasuke**** are a pair of brothers who ran away from their clan's estate to escape the clutches of their psychotic cousin, Madara, and his organization, Akatsuki. **

**Uchiha Madara**** is Itachi and Sasuke's cousin and the criminal mastermind of Japan. He runs the organization Akatsuki, and has a history of drugs and anger management issues. Somehow became a pretty decent guy during the six years that Itachi and Sasuke didn't see him - also known as the "Hiatus."**

**Okay, I'm going to stop this obscenely long Author's Note now. Enjoy the story! Or try to, at least, you mongrels.**

* * *

**…** = New Scene

**.** = New Point of View

* * *

**Adolescence – First Arc**

**_New Student, Old Issues_**

**_…_**

"This is our new student," Mr. Kirkland explained, "She just moved here from a few towns over. Please introduce yourself."

Her bright red eyes scanned the room briefly, almost suspiciously, before she spoke, "Tsubaki Kaizuki." Mr. Kirkland was looking at her expectantly, wanting her to say something about herself.

"Is there anything else you want to tell us about yourself, Tsubaki-san?"

Kaizuki looked over at him briefly, and then turned her attention back to the class, "No, there isn't." She answered, "Where should I sit?"

Mr. Kirkland was taken aback by her flat refusal, but he didn't let it deter him, "There's an empty chair in the second row, by the window."

Kaizuki spotted her seat easily, next to a girl with slightly darker-than-average skin for an Asian. Then again, red eyes weren't exactly average for any nationality, so Kaizuki couldn't exactly say anything. She sat down next to the tanned brunette and leaned back in her chair while pulling her bag into her lap. She was already tired, and some part of her still wasn't sure why she bothered with this "school" thing. It wasn't like anything would change with different scenery.

She glanced over at the girl besides her, and their eyes met for just a moment. Kaizuki averted her gaze first, and looked back out the window. Mr. Kirkland was going on and on about English literature and its effect on the Asian world during some time period or another. She fingered the folded piece of paper in one of the pockets of her bag. She needed to hurry up and translate it.

**.**

She decided the most intriguing thing about the new girl was her eyes. They were a vibrant red. A sure sign of evil and malice, according to pop culture, but there was no such dark intentions in her expression. None that were obvious, anyway. No, the only thing Juritsu saw in the new girl's eyes was a wariness and mistrust of everything around her. It kind of reminded her of back then.

She never could figure out when things had changed. She'd gone from being the loner of the school to having friends, and even some admirers in the school. The only reason she could think of was Takeda. She smiled slightly at the memories, wishing she knew where'd he'd gone. It had been several months, and no sign of him. Now, she had a boyfriend, the ever-popular Uchiha Sasuke, and she cared deeply about the raven-haired boy. But still, there were times when she couldn't help but let her mind wander to thoughts of one Takeda Ikki. He'd saved her from most of the hell she'd found herself in, after all.

**.**

"Hey Sasuke."

Her smile was far too dazzling. It made his stomach plummet to the floor. But he returned a smile just as easily, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"You look well," he remarked, making easy conversation. It was always easy, this pretending thing. Being someone he wasn't... it was the only thing he was good at, it seemed.

"I had a good night's sleep last night," Juritsu replied, a grin on her face as the two of them began their routine stroll down the hall. "So, are you free after school? I hear there's an event going on at the arcade."

His smirk widened on cue. "Sounds like fun," he affirmed, noting how her eyes lit up at his simple answer. They weren't the words he wanted to say to her, of course. But he knew what would happen if he said what was on his mind. The smile would disappear, the lively sparkle would fade away. She would go back to the quiet, distant girl from before. And he didn't want that. So this would be okay. It would be okay.

Before he turned to go into his classroom, he gave her a kiss. She had a warm smile on her face, and he turned away, too afraid to expose what he'd been hiding from her.

**.**

Sometimes, he wondered how he hadn't lost his mind from all of the work.

Itachi glanced down at his watch. He had exactly 32 minutes and 17 seconds before he had to go back to his classroom and prepare the lesson plan for the following period. At the end of the day, he had to hurry to the university, where he was working on his doctorate thesis. Had to do more blood work. It was hard, since he didn't have a large supply to experiment with. Then, at 8 pm, he'd go home and continue his research until 10 pm, at which point he switched over to grading assignments and preparing lesson plans until anywhere between 11:30 and 1 in the morning. Then, he would wake up at 6 am, get up, go to school, get situated, and start the process over again.

"Hey, Itachi!" He glanced up at the sound of his brother's voice, and saw Sasuke and Juritsu making their way towards him. Without realizing it at first, a smile crept onto his face at the sight of his little brother. He didn't care what amount of work and stress piled up in life, truthfully. As long as Sasuke was still healthy and thriving, that was really all that mattered.

"You got here faster than I was expecting," he replied as the three of them began heading over to their usual table.

"I got out of class early, so Sasuke didn't have to wait as long," Juritsu replied with a bright grin, causing Itachi's smile to widen a fraction. Since meeting her the first time Sasuke had brought her home, he'd grown very fond of her. He could see she'd been living through many hardships, though from what he gathered, they'd moved to the city shortly after the worst of it had passed for her. That had been several months ago. Now, he viewed her as a little sister, something he never had growing up.

"Oh, that's the new girl," Juritsu spoke up, sounding slightly surprised. Itachi followed her gaze. Sure enough, a girl he didn't recognize was sitting at their usual table, bent over a piece of paper and a book.

Sasuke blinked. "So... what should we do?"

Itachi decided to take the initiative and led the way up to the table. "Excuse me," he asked politely, "Do you mind if we sit here with you?"

She didn't reply, her lips moving as her fingers moved across the page. There was a brief pause, and Itachi was about to speak up again, louder this time, when she suddenly stopped and looked up at them.

"Were you talking to me?" She looked surprised, almost as if she'd never been directly spoken to by strangers before.

Itachi blinked, slightly taken aback at her obliviousness before he responded. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

Her eyes swept over the three of them for just a moment before settling on Juritsu. After a moment of careful scrutinizing, she replied, "I don't mind."

Itachi gave his thanks on behalf of the small group. "I'm Itachi. It's nice to meet you." He sat down, indicating his brother and friend. "This is my younger brother Sasuke. And this is Juritsu."

Sasuke and Juritsu each gave their own greetings as they took their seats.

"I'm Kaizuki," she replied, leaning back away from the dictionary and paper she had been poring over and blinking. "I'm Kaizuki, and I suck at Korean."

Itachi scooted closer to the pale girl. "You're trying to translate something?" he asked, "Would you like some help? I'm fluent in Korean."

She looked at him, the disbelief obvious, "Well, if you insist," she turned the paper towards him, "He does this thing where he uses double meanings with absolutely everything that he writes me so its half encrypted. Just a fair warning."

Itachi picked up the paper, reading it over carefully. "It took me a little while to find you, Kaizuki," he kept his voice quiet, so as not to disturb Sasuke and Juritsu and avoid them overhearing the letter, "I'm surprised that you would have chosen such a random area to move to. Is it because of the high crime rate that might mean any friends of yours will be better versed in fighting, and therefore less susceptible to being killed?

"I'm currently out of the country, but I assure you I'll be back soon. Do your best while I'm away. If your grades fall because of someone other than me, I'll cut out your tongue. Please be sure to write me back soon. Io."

Itachi slid the piece of paper back towards Kaizuki, letting the words sink in. "... Well."

He amazed himself at how stupefied he sounded.

Kaizuki frowned slightly, "My translation was pretty far off. Your version sounds much more like him." She folded the paper up and stuck it into the dictionary, which she then shoved into her bag. "It's okay if you want to run screaming from the room. I won't be offended." She offered a slight, reassuring smile, though it was obvious that smiling wasn't something that came very naturally to her.

"It's alright... Is it safe to assume that you two aren't exactly friends?" Itachi asked once he sorted out his racing thoughts.

She snorted, "No, we're not friends." She glanced over at Juritsu, though her gaze fell on the other girl's hands rather than her face, "I shouldn't have let you see that. I'm sorry; you're probably freaking out now."

Itachi followed her gaze, wondering what it was the new girl saw. "It's quite alright," he replied, a slightly bitter tone briefly showing through, "We all have skeletons in our closets, after all."

She looked over at him, her eyes searching him for sincerity, which he knew she found plenty of. Her posture visibly relaxed, and she turned slightly in her seat to face him better, "Can you fight?" She was quite deliberate in most of everything she did and said, it seemed. Quite the blunt wall.

Itachi was slightly taken aback by the question. "Well... I know how to defend myself." He declined to mention the kind of things he'd be forced to learn from his psychotic cousin. "Of the three of us, Juritsu's the strongest fighter. She's trained in martial arts for a long time, or so she tells me."

Kaizuki nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment, "I'm trusting that you can defend yourself like you say," she said seriously, "So don't like, let me down and get killed or anything, okay?"

He knew she was being serious, but the absurdity of what she'd said caused him to chuckle slightly. "Hai, I'll try to avoid getting killed," he reassured her with a smile.

This time, Kaizuki's smile was genuine and relieved. She sighed, her posture changing completely as she let her guard down. Itachi was surprised to see that there was someone in the world who could hold as much tension and stress as he could without buckling under the weight.

She opened her mouth to speak, and the bell chose that moment to ring, informing them that it was time to go to class. Kaizuki swiftly stood up, "I ought to get to class," her demeanor was so completely changed, it was a surprising thing to watch, "Give myself a few minutes to get lost. I'll see you around, Itachi-san."

The older Uchiha blinked in confusion, but remained silent as he watched her hurry towards the exit.

"She alright?" Juritsu's voice caught his attention, and he glanced over at her.

"She'll be alright," he reassured her, standing up and waiting for them to follow suit as he headed towards the exit as well.

**…**

Juritsu leaned heavily against the wall with a heavy sigh, staring at the text message she'd just received.

_Something came up and i cant make it after school =/ sorry_

She shook her head, pushing past the feeling of her heart sinking, and texted a brief "it's okay," before she pocketed her phone, running a hand through her hair as she turned to adjust her bag and continue on her way to class.

"Juritsu?" Kaizuki appeared beside her, "Something up? You look upset."

The brunette jumped, startled by the girl's appearance. "Oh... well... I'm just a little annoyed, I guess. Sasuke canceled our date after school today. But this is the third time this has happened... what if something's going on?"

"Maybe you should confront him about it?" Kaizuki asked, "I mean, he could be an asshole, or he could be secretly buying you a diamond ring, right?"

Juritsu blushed furiously at that. "I mean... well..." she stammered, "You... you think so? But so... what should I do? How do I confront him? I don't want to sound needy you know?" She began to ramble. Obviously, it wasn't everyday she was in these situations.

Kaizuki smiled slightly, "Just ask him what's so important that he can't keep a date," she offered, "Nothing too elaborate, y'know?"

Juritsu nodded, seeming to understand what Kaizuki was trying to say. "Yea... you're right," she said, rubbing the back of her head almost sheepishly, "I'll call him. Meanwhile, I have these coupons that are going to expire at one of the diners downtown. Um... study session?"

"Sounds like a plan," Kaizuki smiled, "I need help catching up on some material anyway. I barely passed last year due to um... absences, so I'm kind of really far behind."

Juritsu smiled brightly. "Great! So, after school, meet me at the main door!"

"I'll see you there," Kaizuki replied as she turned into her fifth period class.

…

"So here," Juritsu handed Kaizuki a cup, a small grin on her face, "You get a free milkshake for today. Hope you like them."

Kaizuki accepted the treat thankfully, "This looks positively awesome," she said, "We shall study after we finish these. I would hate to ruin my books." She grinned past her straw, "I mean, you're really smart anyway and school is expendable for me. We have time."

Juritsu chuckled, rubbing her neck bashfully. "I'm not all that smart, really..." she replied, unsure of how to respond to the compliment.

"You're rather hilariously adorable, Juritsu," Kaizuki snickered, "One would think you've never been flattered before."

Juritsu chuckled, slightly awkwardly as her cheeks flushed slightly. "Um, well, it's not often, at the very least."

"I guess I should get on everybody's ass about that, huh?" Kaizuki stuck out her tongue, and then laughed outright, "I'm sorry if I'm giving off the appearance of hitting on you. I don't do these things on purpose, I swear."

At this, Juritsu burst into laughter, catching the attention of the other occupants of the diner. "Oh geez," she finally said after calming down, wiping tears from her eyes, "It's fine. Didn't even cross my mind."

Kaizuki smiled, her eyes drifting over to the large windows that showed the outside world. It was a crisp and clear autumn afternoon, and the air wasn't too cold, nor was it too hot. Since it wasn't even Monday, it didn't seem like there was much that could go wrong in the remaining amount of daylight left.

That was approximately the moment that Sasuke chose to walk past the diner, a short, pink-haired young woman clinging to his arm and, by the looks of it, thoroughly enjoying his company. They crossed the street, their direction aimed for the arcade. Kaizuki felt the color drain from her face as she watched Sasuke briefly turn towards this girl and peck her on the lips. The grip of her milkshake glass tightened until her knuckles were white.

She was about to ask Juritsu if the she wanted to get started on studying, but the brunette had followed Kaizuki's gaze, and by the looks of her expression, she could see Sasuke and his new girlfriend quite well.

Her eyes were wide, filled with shock and incredulity. She was completely stunned.

"That wasn't..." abruptly, she sprang up from the table, tearing out of the diner.

"Juritsu, wait!"

That black hair... it had to have been a coincidence, right? Sai looked practically like Sasuke's twin; it could've been him! _Please don't tell me this is what I think it is oh god no._

"SASUKE!"

Time slowed, and her heart plummeted as her boyfriend, if he could even be called that, turned around, surprised and horror etched onto his face. That look alone told her everything she needed to know.

Sakura was staring at her, also surprised, and perhaps slightly confused. That pink-haired little bitch...

Juritsu found her feet moving before she even thought to. "What is this?" she snarled, standing full up to Sakura, who'd detached herself from the Uchiha and was now facing her down with a sneer (the little...-).

"What does it look like, Son?" the green-eyed girl shot back, "We're to-ge-ther."

Juritsu grabbed the girl's shirt collar tightly, wrenching her closer. "You forget about the fact that he's _my boyfriend_?!"

"Doesn't it suck that he'd rather spend time with me than you then?"

"That's it, you little!"

"Juritsu, wait!" Sasuke had wedged himself between the two of them. His eyes pleaded with her.

"Are you kidding me right now?" she seethed, glaring at him angrily, "You're _defending_ her? What the hell, Sasuke?!"

"I... I approached her," he ground out reluctantly, abruptly ending her tirade. She could only stare at him, shocked. He... willingly... was cheating on her? _Cheating_ on her? After everything they'd been through? How could he?

"Wh... why?"

Sasuke averted his gaze, clearly ashamed at what he was about to tell her. "I care about you, I really do," there was a pause. He appeared to be trying to find the right words, "But... I couldn't deal with the constant attacks by... I mean, every time we went out, we got jumped. With Sakura, it's safer."

His shoulders slumped slightly. "I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to hurt you."

Juritsu stood there, almost dumbfounded, completely stunned. But her anger was very rapidly overwhelming her. "You... you didn't want to hurt me?!" she shrieked, lunging for him, "You think going around behind my back and making me look like an idiot was better?!"

Kaizuki barely had a second to spare when she caught Juritsu around the waist from behind and swung her away from Sasuke, putting herself between the two fresh exes, though she made a point to keep a hand extended towards Juritsu as a method of holding up her guard and keeping Juritsu further away from Sasuke.

"Juritsu, _relax_!"

"If you didn't want to be with me anymore, you should've said something!" Juritsu continued to scream at him. Sasuke looked stricken. "You could've said something! You could've beaten me up for all I care! Anything would've been better than this!"

"I... I'm sorry..." Sasuke began.

"Shut your damned mouth, you worthless piece of shit!" Kaizuki snarled at him, "The only reason I haven't busted your face in myself is because I'm not a hypocrite!" She turned her eyes towards the pink-haired slut that Sasuke had chosen over Juritsu, "Although I can't say the same for _you_, tramp."

Sakura glared at Kaizuki. "Butt out, new girl!" she snapped, then immediately shrank back at the look on Juritsu's face.

"Don't talk shit to her! I'll shut you up myself! You coward!" she snarled before turning her attention back to the Uchiha. "Forget we were ever together, you scumbag!"

Before Sasuke could say anything, Juritsu turned and took off.

"Juritsu!" he called, almost moving to chase after her, but was stopped by a look from Kaizuki.

"Don't give me any more reasons to kick your ass, _Sasuke_," she ground out, before turning away and running after her friend, refusing to spare Sasuke and his new girlfriend a second glance.

"Juritsu! Hey!" She called, _damn, she's fast!_

She finally caught up to the brunette, who'd stopped and was leaning against a building, catching her breath.

"I'm pissed," she was muttering, "I'm not sad, not at all. I'm not gonna cry over him. He can rot for all I care. I never liked him that way anyway."

Kaizuki walked over to Juritsu's side and touched her arm, smiling sympathetically at her, "Definitely not sad... but it's okay to feel betrayed, right?"

She could see Juritsu's jaw was clenched almost excruciatingly tight. "I did everything I could," her voice sounded thick. "No one ever laid a finger on him, never. I made sure of that. I thought he'd accept me for who I was. They never do in the end; never stay by your side..."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kaizuki's said knowingly, "I'm sure there are at least a couple of people who would willingly staple themselves to your side." She tapped Juritsu's shoulder to persuade her to turn and face her, "Personally, I don't care if Genghis Khan comes after me because I'm friends with you; I don't leave people behind until they're dead."

Juritsu only managed to hold her gaze with Kaizuki for an instant before her averted her gaze, bringing up an arm to wipe at her eyes irritably. She chuckled. "Heh, Genghis Khan? If he really came back from the dead and came after you, I'd definitely take him out." Her voice wavered, only slightly.

Kaizuki pulled Juritsu into a tight hug, and laughed, "I'm comforting you, by the way. I'm not, like, hitting on you or anything."

At that, Juritsu burst into outrageous laughter once again.

…

"Sasuke, I raised you better than this."

The Uchiha in question hung his head. Itachi was not pleased with the news of the circumstances surrounding his breakup with Juritsu. He couldn't blame his older brother for being mad, of course. But he felt awful knowing that Itachi was disappointed in him.

"A liar is no better than a thief or a coward, Sasuke. It will get you nowhere in life," Itachi continued, sparing nothing, "I don't understand what led you to think your approach wasn't going to backfire. Regardless of when, she would've found out."

"I just thought... she wouldn't be as hurt..."

"Stop making excuses for yourself," Itachi snapped. Sasuke was taken aback at how angry his brother was, "The only kind of person who tries to justify these kinds of actions is cowardly and weak."

Sasuke's voice caught in his throat. Itachi was right... he didn't really amount to much of anything, did he? Always screwing up... he couldn't do anything right.

His brother seemed to see this change in him, because he suddenly said. "Go to bed, Sasuke, and reflect on your mistakes. Learn from them."

After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke complied, trudging up the stairs and into his room. He was too pathetic to even get appropriately reamed out. Talk about a complete loser. Though, he supposed, he should've expected it.

As Itachi's words resounded in his head, lying in bed, the only images that came to mind where those of Juritsu after catching him in the act. The happy sparkle in her eyes, her bright smile... had disappeared. And it was his fault, regardless of how much he didn't want it to be so.

…

He felt slightly bad for the last-minute text he'd sent to Juritsu informing her he wasn't joining them for lunch. While he knew for sure that Sasuke already wasn't going to be there at the table, he needed a little bit of space to calm himself, what with all the stress he'd been under before the news of Sasuke's unfaithfulness. He didn't want to console Juritsu while in a foul mood.

So, that was how he found himself staring out at the courtyard, simply people-watching from the roof of the school. It didn't require any particular train of thought, and allowed him to simply be there, if only for an extremely short period of time. He still had 26 minutes and 54 seconds left before the end of lunch period, after all. There was a rather noisy creak of metal as the door to the roof opened from behind him, and then slammed as it was allowed to close on its own accord.

"Could you pick a more obscure place to hang out? I almost gave up trying to find you."

Itachi whirled around, eyes wide in immediate recognition and horror. He'd know that voice anywhere, even if he hadn't heard it in 6 years.

It was his cousin. His crazy, psychotic cousin…

"M… Madara…" Itachi hated how his voice suddenly turned quiet, subdued, completely different from the person he'd grown to be. He hated even more the way his head bowed a little as he averted his gaze to the ground in front of his shoes. But this was _Madara_. Nobody stood up to Madara… not even Itachi. Especially not Itachi.

His cousin walked up to join him besides the fencing by the edge of the roof, "It's been a while, Itachi." His voice held its usual tone of amusement, something that Itachi had grown rather accustomed to. "How long? I don't remember."

"Six years." Short, concise answers. Or else the things he'd do…

Six years was how long it seemed to take him to move him and Sasuke far enough away to escape the reach of his cousin. He thought he made his life obscure enough to not draw attention to himself, specifically Madara's. He had to get away from Madara, had to run away and hide again…

"Six years, and I don't think you've gotten an inch taller." Madara chuckled, "How is Sasuke?"

"He's doing well."

Madara turned to face him, leaning his shoulder against the fence, "And how are _you_? I hope no one's given you trouble in my absence."

He couldn't bring himself to look up at Madara, so he kept his gaze trained on the door to the stairwell. "Of course not."

"Are you sure about that?" Madara pressed, "You seem awfully less animated than I remember. Like an abuse victim or something."

"I was like that before you forced me to choose Shisui to die."

Something in Madara's demeanor changed abruptly. He followed Itachi's gaze to the stairwell, and for a moment he was silent. It didn't last long, of course; Madara was never quiet for long.

"Sasori told me that you've been working on a doctorate thesis while I was away," He changed the subject rather unexpectedly, "Something in the medical field, right?"

"Genetics and Genomics, actually. Science and research-based."

Madara was about to reply when the stairwell door burst open, banging into the wall besides it. Sasuke, who looked to be on the verge of speaking, immediately froze in his steps, taking in the image of his cousin as the color drained from his face, eyes widening in fear.

A broad smile broke out on Madara's face, "Sasuke! I was contemplating seeking you out to say hello, but now I don't have to." He paused, taking in the look on Sasuke's face for only a moment before continuing, "You've grown a lot since I last saw you."

Sasuke took a small step back, his mouth opening and closing, as if he wanted to say something but instead thought better of it, and shakily nodded his head in agreement. The smile on Madara's face disappeared, leaving a stunned, unexpectedly nervous expression.

He reached up a hand, pointedly ignoring it when Sasuke winced as if he was expecting to be hit from halfway across the roof, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "I just need to talk to your brother for a moment. Won't take long. I'll send him after you when I'm done with him."

"O… okay…" Sasuke's voice sounded so small. Itachi winced at how uncharacteristic it was. Such was the effect of Madara. His younger brother cast him a look filled to the brim with worry and fear before he turned and hurried back down the stairs. It was likely that he was more than willing to flee the scene, and Itachi couldn't blame him. Not after what he'd been put through back then.

Once Sasuke was safely out of sight, Madara turned back to face Itachi, "Straight to business," his voice sounded different compared to a few moments ago. He seemed anxious after seeing Sasuke's reaction to his presence. Itachi nodded, not entirely sure how to respond.

"I didn't come here to chit-chat; there have been a few questionable things going on surrounding my… professional life, and one of those things seems to be related to killing me," Madara paused briefly, glancing skyward as if he was working to remember something, "Right. I came here to make sure you and Sasuke are safe now, and that you two stay safe. I want you to be slightly more diligent than you probably already are. It'll make me feel better about not moving in with you."

Itachi blinked, glancing up at his cousin without really thinking at first. "D… diligent? We're targets?"

"I don't know yet. Maybe. Possibly. Generally speaking, when you're going after someone in the mafia, the first people you try to use for blackmail are family." Madara glanced towards the door again, "Just be careful, ne?"

Itachi's eyes averted to the floor, and wordlessly, he nodded. Madara patted his shoulder, something that was probably supposed to be comforting. Instinctively, he stiffened, at first due to the contact, and then even more so when he realized that Madara probably wouldn't like the initial reaction.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you and Sasuke," Madara muttered, his voice sounding resigned as he retracted his hand, "Just to be safe. I'll see you around." With that, he turned away and headed for the stairwell. With a hand on the doorknob, he turned around briefly and called back to Itachi, "Don't forget to hunt down your brother like I told him you would."

Itachi looked slightly surprised at that. "Um… okay… I will." The door slammed behind Madara as he departed.

…

"Why is he back, Itachi?!" Sasuke half-panicked from his position on the couch, where he'd pulled his knees into his chest as if doing so would make him impossible to see.

Itachi was stepping from window to window; drawing shut the curtains after checking for any signs of Madara or his people. His anger at his little brother had all but vanished. The top priority was figuring out how Madara had found them, and then fleeing before anything could happen. And besides that, he wasn't sure if he should've been more scared at Madara's appearance or his behavior. There was never a time in his life that he could remember when Madara ever seemed to genuinely care about his well-being, let alone Sasuke's. The only attention the older cousin had ever paid to him was his attempts at forcefully grooming him to become the heir to Akatsuki.

So what had changed? And why was he back? Why now?

"Sasuke, calm down," he instructed as he took in the sight of his brother, who seemed seconds away from having a panic attack. He knelt in front of the youngest Uchiha, grasping his shoulders comfortingly, "I will do everything I can to make sure that he can't get to you. And if that means moving, then so be it."

The sound of someone knocking at their front door startled them both. Sasuke stiffened on the couch as Itachi walked over to the door, opening it as a greeting died on his lips. There, in front of him, stood none other than Madara.

Madara smiled slightly, holding up a bouquet of chocolate roses, "I felt kind of bad for showing up unexpectedly and not bringing you anything! Candy is still like crack to you, right?"

Itachi could only stand there, nearly stupefied as he took in the sight of the candy being held up to him. More so than the candy, it was the fact that it was _Madara_ holding them. His voice died in his throat as he tried to come up with something to say.

The older Uchiha handed the candies over to Itachi, surreptitiously sidling past him and into the house, "You don't mind if I come in, right? I have something for Sasuke, too."

Itachi turned to try and stop his cousin. "Wai..."

Too late. Sasuke's eyes were wide as he stared at Madara's approaching form. He hugged his knees tighter, as if trying to curl into himself. Itachi could see the boy's already pale skin growing ashen. Madara couched down in front of the couch, seemingly making a point not to get within a foot of the spot where Sasuke sat. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a rectangular box, gingerly holding it out to his youngest cousin.

"I thought long and hard about giving this up, but since it's you I'm sure you'll take care of it, ne?" He paused briefly, not doing a very good job hiding how... _hurt_ he seemed to be by Sasuke's trembling, "It was your mom's... your dad gave it to her when they were in high school, and she gave it to me right before she..." he trailed off into silence, averting his gaze to Sasuke's clenched fingers.

Sasuke, at first, could only stare, completely dumbfounded at this apparent act of kindness. Itachi couldn't blame his younger brother. It just seemed so out of character for Madara to play nice. And yet... here he was, trying to play nice.

Slowly, his younger brother reached out with a tentative hand, taking the small box from Madara. Sasuke looked unsure, as if he wasn't actually supposed to be grabbing the present, and averted his gaze from Madara's face to the box in his hands.

"You have the same face as her," Madara mumbled – **muttered**; Madara didn't mumble – and smiled a little more, "I think it'll look good on you."

An unrecognizable expression passed through Sasuke's eyes. Itachi wasn't entirely sure what was going on in his brother's mind. He, himself, was surprised at Madara's words. Not once did his cousin ever acknowledge Sasuke's resemblance to their mother, always choosing to liken him to their father, whom he never seemed to like.

Sasuke opened the box, and Itachi's eyes widened in recognition at the pendant - it _had_ belonged to their mother. He'd always believed it to have disappeared forever. Sasuke had been too young to remember the necklace, which explained the slight confusion in his eyes. But carefully, the youngest Uchiha took the pendant, putting it on after a moment of studying the jewelry.

Madara's eyes softened, his smile warm, "Just like her."

There was another knock at the door, and Madara looked up, seeming slightly surprised.

"Madara? I know you're in there." It was Kisame's familiar voice that spoke through the door. The elder of the three Uchiha's stood up slowly, a slight smirk appearing on his face as he muttered, "I must be getting predictable in my old age," and made his way over to the door, pulling it open to reveal his two right-hand men.

"Madara, you promised you wouldn't come here." Sasori scolded, a deep frown on his face. Kisame nodded in agreement with the redhead, and Madara smiled sheepishly.

"I was possessed. I don't know how I got here."

"Right. And I assume that the demon who possessed you was trying to woo Itachi with chocolate flowers."

The Uchiha shrugged, trying and failing to look innocent before turning back to Itachi, "I guess I gotta go." He glanced past Itachi and to Sasuke, "Take care of that, okay? I'll see you two around. And keep your door locked. Diligence, remember?"

Kisame and Sasori exchanged a brief glance before turning away from the house as Madara followed them out, the door slamming shut behind them.

…

The cafeteria was, as usual, packed with noise and hunger-driven students. There was some kind of fight going on across the room from them, a sort of fist fight between two boys over one girl, if the kind of language they were using was any indicator.

Kaizuki and Juritsu only watched, shaking their heads in unison at the boys' terrible fighting technique.

"Look at the way he punches. That kind of technique wills _ruin_ his elbows if he doesn't correct it." Kaizuki stated matter-of-factly, pointing to the more buff fighter, "And his leg work is childish and sloppy."

"That's if he doesn't break his hand first," Juritsu chided, looking up as she noticed a pair coming towards them. She stiffened when she saw that it was Itachi, accompanied by Sasuke.

"Do you mind if Sasuke sits here?" Itachi asked, his face pale and strained.

Juritsu flashed a brief smile as she stood up. "It's fine; I was just leaving anyway," she replied cheerfully as she picked up her tray and bag, "I have to go to the library."

Behind Itachi, Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. She paid no heed as she walked past them towards the exit.

Itachi watched her go and sighed deeply, before sitting down, indicating his brother to sit as well.

Kaizuki watched Juritsu go before turning to face Itachi and Sasuke, "No offense, but you look like Hell." She observed, poking at her salad, "Ghost come back to haunt you?"

Itachi glanced at her tiredly. "Something like that," he replied, "Only he's completely different from before. I don't know if he's planning something or if something changed... drastically."

"This might sound insensitive on a whole new level, but," Kaizuki sighed, prodding her salad again as she considered whether or not she was still hungry, "If you don't know, perhaps you should ask."

"I wish it was that simple. Unless I get in touch with one of his men... like Kisame. He and I used to kind of get along..." he partially thought aloud.

The red-eyed girl offered an encouraging smile, "Whatever works, you know?" She glanced at the clock across the room from the, above the exit doors, "Unfortunately, I must depart at this time, my dears. Mr. Kirkland wanted to see me about something, and while I am apprehensive I'm sure he's just going to yell at me about my math grade or something."

She collected her bag, and picked up the tray holding her salad, "I'll see you around. Take care." With that, she made her way across the cafeteria, heading in the direction opposite of Mr. Kirkland's room.

…

The breeze ruffled her hair, though with the temperature being more summery than autumn-like, Juritsu didn't mind as she leaned against the fence, staring out at the courtyard.

It was clear Itachi and Sasuke were going through a rough time, but she couldn't bring herself to look past what had happened only a couple of days ago. How could anyone expect her to just get over it like it never happened? She'd been with him for months - had he been cheating on her the entire time? And how had she been so blind as to not notice?

She was wrenched abruptly from her thoughts when she heard the door to the stairwell open and shut. She whirled around, fists thrown up in a guard only to blanch and blush in embarrassment. A blue-haired, tanned and muscular guy stood in front of her, giving her a strange look.

"You don't come up here," he observed matter-of-factly, "And you're paranoid as hell."

Juritsu chuckled, slightly awkwardly. "You startled me, that's all. And how would you know whether or not I come up here often?"

"Because I come up here often," the boy grinned at her as she rolled her eyes, "So why're you up here? Usually you're sitting with the Uchiha kid and his brother."

Juritsu averted her gaze, staring out at the courtyard as the scene popped up fresh in her mind. "I'm surprised you didn't hear," her voice came out bitter, even with her trying to hold back on the emotions, "Yea... we broke up. Seems he likes pink-hair over brunettes."

"Wait, so you're telling me he's with _Sakura_?" She nodded silently, and he laughed out loud. Her gaze snapped back up to him, her eyes holding a murderous glare.

"If you don't mind, Grimmjow," she half-snapped, "I don't need you rubbing more salt in my wounds."

Grimmjow shook his head. "Are you kidding? I'm not laughing at you; I'm laughing at the Uchiha kid. He's an idiot. I mean, who the hell would choose _Sakura_ over you?"

At that, Juritsu blushed, earning a snicker from the blue-haired boy. "But anyway, that's just my opinion. I'm not into pale girls. They look unhealthy."

Leave it to Grimmjow to say something random, only for it to have some sort of effect. This was how Juritsu found her heart racing and her face heating up even more. It had nothing to do with a crush. Grimmjow was one of the most popular boys in the school. He also had the reputation of hooking up with any girl he could get his hands on. And sure, she wasn't a virgin – she'd lost it to Sasuke while they'd been together – just knowing what kind of guy Grimmjow was causing her mind to fly into overdrive as it tried to figure out what exactly his intentions were.

"You look like you're about to have a stroke," his voice popped into her head, and she blinked, finding him watching her with a raised eyebrow and a lopsided smirk on his face. She really couldn't blame the female population for throwing themselves at his feet.

"I'm just stressed," she gave him a half-hearted smile and nearly jumped when she felt his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly.

"Don't sweat it. Try not to let what happened get to you. You can find someone way better... like me," he winked before bursting into laughter at her reddening face, "I'm _kidding_, but if you happen to change your mind, you know where to find me."

The door to the stairwell opened again and Kaizuki walked onto the roof, narrowing her red eyes as they refused to adjust to the bright sunlight, "I'm not interrupting friendly bonding, am I?"

Juritsu and Grimmjow looked over their shoulder at Kaizuki. Grimmjow looked back at Juritsu. "Who's she?"

"She's the new girl," she supplied, "You don't pay attention in homeroom?"

"Who cares about homeroom?" He glanced back over at Kaizuki and looked her up and down. "Too pale. That's a shame."

Juritsu smacked him upside the head. "You're a dork," she scowled, though there was a slightly playful hint in her eyes.

Grimmjow chuckled. "Hai, hai."

Kaizuki smirked, "I guess that just means more for you, Juritsu." She chuckled, "I'm Kaizuki. Tsubaki Kaizuki."

Grimmjow grinned. "I'm Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Nice to meet you too." He walked towards the stairwell, "I'll leave you two to your girl stuff."

"Grimmjow," Juritsu called, causing him to stop and glance over his shoulder with a questioning look. She grinned. "Thanks."

His smirk widened slightly. "No prob." With that, he left.

The darker haired girl looked after Grimmjow with raised eyebrows, and then glanced back at Juritsu. She pointed after the blue-haired boy and tilted her head slightly, a questioning look on her face.

"Is he…?"

Juritsu blinked, confused at first before she realized what Kaizuki was saying and burst into laughter. "No, no," she replied, "We're classmates. Kind of friends. We don't really talk much though."

Kaizuki made a mock-skeptical face before laughing as well. She walked over to join Juritsu by the fencing and sighed heavily, "Something's wrong with Itachi and Sasuke. I mean, I don't care much about Sasuke, but something's up with Itachi."

Juritsu gave her friend a concerned look. "Did he say anything?"

"Not really," she replied thoughtfully, "A 'ghost' came back to haunt him, only 'he' is completely different from before. Itachi doesn't know if 'he' is planning something, or if something changed." She paused, "Oh, and he mentioned some guy named Kisame. Is any of this ringing any bells? Making any sense?"

Juritsu contemplated for a moment. "No... neither Itachi nor Sasuke ever mentioned anything about a ghost, or their past. Only thing Itachi ever told me was that he took Sasuke and moved away from the clan's estate after the death of his parents."

"That's suspicious all by itself," the other girl replied, "After their parents died, don't you think he'd want to stay near family who could help him raise Sasuke? I mean, financial support is one thing all by itself. You can only do so much on a teacher's salary, right?"

Juritsu nodded, looking slightly upset. "Whenever I tried asking about it, they evaded the question. And, I mean, I can't really blame them. They don't know everything about me so..."

Kaizuki nodded in agreement, "It'd be strange for me to ask Itachi since he barely knows me." She glanced out towards the courtyard, "I hope he'll be okay. He claims that he can defend himself, so I guess I should trust him for now. He'd come for help if he needed it, right?"

Juritsu glanced up at the clouds. "Itachi does know a little, but I know he'll get help if he needs it."


End file.
